Don’t worry, wash hands, cover mouth

Fear of the coronavirus has spread faster than the infection itself — but a few quick facts might help New Yorkers learn how to best protect themselves.

The virus — first detected last year in Wuhan City in China’s Hubei Province — can now be transmitted from person to person, according to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention.

A cough or sneeze from someone with the virus can be the most problematic, assuming the droplets from a big ol’ achoo land in the mouth or nose of another person, the CDC says.

The droplets can also be inhaled, particularly when people are standing within about 6 feet of one another, the CDC reports. Individuals are also the most contagious when they are the sickest, though the virus can potentially spread even before they show cold or flulike symptoms.

But so far it’s unclear how fast this virus is spreading or who is at the greatest risk for getting sick.

Children don’t seem to be more susceptible to the virus than other groups. Yet it’s still unknown whether it can be transmitted through breast milk.

Certain symptoms like a fever might not show in elderly individuals, infants or kids and those who have suppressed immune systems, whose bodies will have trouble fighting off the infection.

Good hygiene like washing hands, avoiding close contact with sick people and tossing used tissues in the trash can help prevent contracting the virus. The CDC and other experts say people who feel well don’t need to wear a face mask. However, those who are sick should put one on to protect others — or, they should just stay home.

“Wash your hands. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, then wash your hands again,” Dr. Tamar Schiff of NYU Langone Health wrote in a Daily News op-ed earlier this month. “But leave the masks to those who are sick, or who are working in hospitals.”